Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt film Northern Ireland drama

Liam Neeson (Love Actually, Kinsey) and James Nesbitt (Match Point, Murhpy's Law) will share the screen for the first time in the forthcoming BBC drama, Five Minutes in Heaven, that has recently begun filming. Written by Guy Hibbert (Omagh) for BBC's Belfast branch, the film will take viewers to both modern-day Northern Ireland and the "Troubles" era of the country's lengthy conflict.

Five Minutes In Heaven begins in 1975 with an adaptation of the true story of 17-year-old Alistair Little, an Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member who killed a 19-year-old Catholic, Jim Griffin, and spent 12 years in prison for the crime. Jim's 11-year-old younger brother Joe Griffin witnessed the murder, which had a harrowing effect on the Griffin family. The film then launches forward to the present day to depict the interactions between Joe Griffin (Nesbitt) and Alistair Little (Neeson) as they accept the tragic events of their past.

The creators of the film told The Guardian that they worked from testimonials of the real-life Little and Griffin to craft the dramatization. "This film is not about finding a resolution or a happy ending," explained Stephen Wright, the film's producer. "What we are attempting to achieve, in a balanced way, is to create a place where both men can tell their individual stories."

Five Minutes will not mark the first time Neeson and Nesbitt have depicted Northern Ireland's conflicted past, having acted in 1996's Michael Collins and 2002's Bloody Sunday respectively. The television film, which represents part of BBC's push to use its budget on non-London projects, is slated to air next year on BBC2.